<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Everything Stays by beaubashley</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27217960">Everything Stays</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/beaubashley/pseuds/beaubashley'>beaubashley</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic Fluff, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, F/M, Fluff, Solas has a cat, Unbeta'd, and he is living his best feral hedgemage life, cottagecore au</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 19:54:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,176</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27217960</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/beaubashley/pseuds/beaubashley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>As the two danced together, hand in hand and heart to heart, a cat curled up on a sun-soaked cushion and fell fast asleep.</p><p> </p><p>A collection of small moments that make a cottage a home.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Female Inquisitor/Solas (Dragon Age), Female Lavellan/Solas, Fen'Harel | Solas/Female Lavellan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Solasmance Cottage AU Challenge</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Let's Go In The Garden</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Solas was out in the garden and Savh’vuni could not stop watching him.  </p><p>His knees were caked in fresh dirt from where he was digging through the earth to harvest roots and tubers for their lunch.  His arms were coated up to the elbow and he had a smear of soil across his cheek and chin, stuck there from his own sweat and dried from the heat of the sun.  He was glorious in the late morning light.  </p><p>Savh’vuni watched him from the uneven doorway, the door hanging open on a busted hinge that had been knocked loose from the wind two nights previous.  <em> “I will get to it in time,” </em> he had told her when she had asked about it last night.  She would give him until the afternoon before she handled it herself.  Her hands were idle, itching for occupation, but she held herself still and watched instead.  The chickens were out and the goat was grazing.  Sharp clucks mixed with the birdsong from the trees beyond the patched fencing of the garden as the wind rustled through the leaves and tall grass.  She took in a deep breath, opening herself up to the scent of dirt and light and spring as it sang all around her.</p><p>There was a chirping sound at her feet and she looked down to find Vher'rel wrapping around her ankles, all white and orange fur arching her back and butting her head against Savh’vuni’s calf.    </p><p>“Are you hungry, little bird?” Savh’vuni asked, leaning down and picking up Solas’ cat, who turned into a sort of liquid state of being as she was lifted up against her shoulder.  Savh’vuni scratched between her orange ears and leaned her head against her softness.  She had never met such a snuggly cat before—pampered and needy and sweet.  Nothing like the feral street cats she had seen around the towns her clan would trade with when she was a child;  All scrawny anger wrapped in matted fur, hissing and spitting when all Savh’vuni had wanted was to share some scraps and coax the critter home with her.  Vher'rel started to purr and Savh’vuni held her a little closer, humming a tune and swaying a bit as they went into the house to see about finding Vher'rel something to eat.  </p><p>Her humming and swaying soon turned into an intricate dance through the cottage, Savh’vuni turning in a slow waltz, lifting Vher'rel gently away from her and towards the ceiling as they whirled about the living room, doused in the warming midday light streaming in from the large windows framing the front of the house.  That cat gave her a lidded look of contentment, showing the sort of infinite patience that should not belong to such a small creature.</p><p>“Might I cut in?” Solas startled her, standing in the busted doorway and wiping his muddied hands off on an old cloth.  Savh’vuni smiled, entranced by the way he was backlit by the sun as he took even, measured steps towards them.  </p><p>“That depends, do you wish to dance with me or the cat?”</p><p>He tossed the soiled cloth towards the braided wicker hamper across the room.  “With Vher'rel, obviously.  She does not step on my toes as you do.”</p><p>Savh’vuni gave Solas an affronted look, falling into his teasing like a well-loved routine.  “I suppose I cannot hold that against you.  She <em> is </em> an excellent partner.  I do not know that either of us could match her grace or beauty.”  </p><p>Vher'rel chirped again, her little sound that was never quite a meow and just short of a mew.  Savh’vuni couldn’t help but kiss the space between the cat’s green eyes.  Vher'rel purred louder, rubbing her tiny face all over Savh’vuni’s own.  </p><p>“Ah, well then, perhaps we should take the opportunity to improve in order to meet Vher’rel’s exacting standards.”</p><p>“Are you asking me to dance, Solas?”</p><p>“If you could find the time to fit it into your demanding schedule, it would be the greatest honor you could bestow upon me this morning.”  He held his hand out, his skin tinted from the rich earth he had tried to wipe away, still stuck under his short nails and faintly in the creases of his palm.  His smile was patient, adoring, and all too knowing.  How could she resist him?</p><p>Savh’vuni carefully put Vher’rel down, the cat stretching back onto her hind legs and arching her spine before trotting away.  Savh’vuni took Solas' hand into her own.  They squabbled for a moment, Savh’vuni playfully putting her lead hand under his and the other at his waist, which garnered a roll of his eyes before he corrected her posture and stance.  He shook his head in that telling way of his when she tried to switch it again.  </p><p>“See, this is why I prefer Vher’rel.  She always lets me lead,” Savh’vuni said, mock-exasperated.  Solas laughed, a perfect quiet sound. </p><p>“I could say the same.  Indulge me this once, <em> vhen’an</em>.”</p><p>And she did, Solas’ careful hands guiding her body close to his as they turned about the room.  His movements were as graceful as they were purposeful and it enraptured her in much the same way watching him gardening had.  She leaned in close, her head bent into the crook of his neck and she inhaled the scent of new life and old promises.  As the two danced together, hand in hand and heart to heart, a cat curled up on a sun-soaked cushion and fell fast asleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Vher’rel - Rebel Cat</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. You'll Find Something Waiting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Vher'rel adopts a friend.  Solas and Savh'vuni do not have much say in the matter.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>Savh’vuni woke in the night to the sound of Vher’rel chirping and clawing at her and Solas’ bedroom door.  That was her first clue that something was amiss. Vher’rel never scratched at anything—door, rug, person, or otherwise—outside of her favored wooden post that was out by the chicken coop.  Solas was deeply asleep, an arm flung over her torso and his face mostly hidden away in his pillow.  She watched him, memorizing the way his eyes fluttered beneath their lids and the exact curve of his lips as he dreamt.  Vher’rel chirped again and Savh’vuni finally rose from the warmth of their blankets and sleep and slipped on a discarded pair of Solas’ leggings.  Vher’rel wound impatient figure-eights around her ankles and nearly tripped her as she dressed. </p><p>“Yes, little bird, I am coming,” she whispered down to the cat.  The wind howled outside, blowing a numbing chill through the cottage and whining against the poorly fitted joints in the windows and door frames.  The branches from the tree outside their bedroom tapped and scrapped against the glass. </p><p>Savh’vuni quietly opened their bedroom door and Vher’rel bolted out of the room and down the creaking stairs.  That did not sit right, and something was nagging at the back of her brain like a whining child.  Something that told her to be on guard, to walk with the same purposeful steps that she had back when she was Inquisitor.  She summoned a ball of fire to her prosthetic, illuminating the quiet as she made her way down to the living room.  Vher’rel was already at the front door, scratching and rubbing her body against it impatiently.  Savh’vuni knelt down, holding the flame in her palm high in the air as she picked up the cat in her right.  </p><p>Vher’rel calmed in her arms and the two went outside.  The wind blew around them, pulling Savh’vuni’s hair in all directions and snuffing out the flame in her hand as she held Vher’rel closer.  Something wasn’t right.  The air was heavy, the Veil felt fit to fraying.  </p><p>There was a figure out by the front gate and Savh’vuni’s breath caught as she took it in.  A sputtering, manic amalgamation of dark intent.  Shapeless and fluctuating.  The sight of it raised the hairs on the back of her arms and neck.  An apparition way beyond twisted, corrupted to an unrecognizable degree.</p><p>Sweet, curious Vher’rel’s ears were flat against her head and her tail twitched in swift irritated jerks, but still she squirmed and jumped out of Savh’vuni’s hold, standing resolutely between her and the creature.  Vher’rel would not move from her defensive stance in front of Savh’vuni.  Every time she would try to subtly shift around the cat to get a better look at the entity, Vher’rel would take high backed steps with her, as if she had a marker on Savh’vuni’s location;  A sixth sense to protect her despite being several sizes smaller than whatever was approaching them.  </p><p>“Vher’rel,” Savh’vuni scolded, trying to coax the cat back to her.  “Vher’rel, <em> garas</em>.<em>” </em>  The cat would not budge.  To the contrary, she took a few cautious steps closer to it.</p><p>Savh’vuni heard the front door creaking open behind them. Solas must have woken and come down to see what all the commotion was about.  She could feel the air tense further as he looked upon what was happening and to the spirit just beyond.  Neither of them took a breath, neither of them so much as moved.  The first to break the stalemate was Vher’rel—still visibly scared, still shaking in a visceral way that Savh’vuni had never seen—the cat taking more slow steps towards it, all twitching trepidation.  Vher’rel tilted her head up towards it, sniffing the air and allowing her orange ears to flick in its direction.  </p><p>The being started to solidify into a singular undulating column.  The tip of a talon touched gently against Vher’rel’s pink nose.  Everything stilled and Savh’vuni’s heart flew into her throat as the talon was raised towards the heavens before coming down against Vher’rel’s side.  </p><p>Solas was between the two before Savh’vuni could even form a thought, Vher’rel’s whine of pain the trigger that finally gave her feeling back in her legs as she sprinted to where he was crouched over her.  Savh’vuni had never known him to lose his patience with a spirit—corrupted or otherwise—but in that moment as it tried to get back into his cat’s space his pale blue eyes turned lethal.  Still, he focused all his attention on Vher’rel, laying a palm against the cut in her side and pouring healing magic into it.</p><p>The creature swelled as Vher’rel cried again, her usual tiny chirp long and wounded.  It shifted, static and shrinking in Savh’vuni’s periphery.  It molded itself into a continuously smaller shape, until it finally evened out into a lithe body of purest black, with a long skinny tail and four paws.  A large black cat was now in its place, giving a distressed mewl and hovering over Vher’rel.  It butted its head against hers, licking gently against her orange and white fur with a tongue as black as the rest of its new body.  </p><p>Solas finished healing the wound, watching with uncertainty as he stroked along Vher’rel’s healed side.  He looked over to Savh’vuni, as if she would somehow hold all the answers.  She gave him a shake of her head, lifting her shoulders as if to say, <em> “you’re the resident expert on spirits, you tell me what in the Void is going on”</em>.  </p><p>Vher’rel closed her eyes as the spirit kept lapping at her, sniffing again at it before giving a chirp of her own.  The black cat’s ears twitched at the sound and it let out a low, crackling meow in response.  Solas gingerly scooped his cat into his arms, gentle and shushing as he placed his nose between her ears to soothe her.  </p><p>The spirit cried its unnerving meow over and over, trying to get up into Solas’ arms, standing back on hind legs and resting its forepaws up on his knees, stretching as long as it could to get closer.  Solas looked down at it in sympathy, although the way he worked his jaw told Savh’vuni that he was still mildly tempted to kick it away from him. </p><p>It tilted its head, butting it against his leg as if in apology, and meowed again.  </p><p>Solas looked back to Savh’vuni, his voice affected in a way she could not fully discern.  “What do I do?” </p><p>She had never known Solas to not have a definitive course of action in mind for any and every situation that faced him.  He was the one she would usually turn to for council and she realized that somewhere along the way he had become dependent on her in the same capacity.  She was touched. </p><p>“It seems upset by its actions.  It knows it did wrong,” she said, coming over to him and kneeling down towards the creature.  It looked at her with eyes that were indiscernible from the rest of its pitch blackness, sniffing at the back of her extended hand before jumping onto her thigh, then to her shoulder, perching on her head and using it as leverage to push itself higher up towards where Vher’rel was held.  Its paws dug into her scalp uncomfortably and she grabbed it up before she could think too much about whether or not it was something she should or should not be doing.  She lifted it off of her, holding it under its front legs and away from them.  The long line of its body drooped in a way that was unnatural, but somehow managed to hold onto the vague impression of a feline.</p><p>“What manner of spirit do you think it is, Solas?”</p><p>Vher’rel began to give a soft purr from Solas unconsciously scratching behind her ears and Savh’vuni saw how the muscles in his shoulders and neck relaxed at the sound. </p><p>“Regret, perhaps?  It has twisted dramatically enough that it does not feel solidly of any sort of spirit I have known.”  He looked at it again, Savh’vuni bringing it up closer for him to examine.  It gave an unsettling meow, like a crack of thunder, its head turning to the side to stare back at him at an angle that was off in a way that made her skin scrawl.  “No, not Regret.  It feels darker, more finite.  Death or Loss, if I had to guess.”</p><p>“Is death the sort of thing we want to be welcoming into our home?”</p><p>“There is nothing inherently wrong with the concept.  It comes one way or another.  Perhaps even harboring such a creature may, in fact, deter it from entering into our lives.” He began to walk to the door where it was still open and letting the cold night air inside.  “More than it already has this evening that is.”</p><p>As Solas crossed the threshold, Vher’rel stirred strongly enough that she managed to jump from his arms, turning and coming up to where Savh’vuni still held the spirit outside.  It started to wiggle in her grip, a vibrating energy coming off of it at a frequency that made her hands go instantly numb.  Savh’vuni dropped it.  It landed perfectly, fully solidifying into a cat once again when it reached the ground and Vher’rel spared no time rubbing herself all over it, the action returned by the spirit.  Their tails wound round each other, and they gave their own respective chirps and mews as if chatting like old friends.</p><p>It seemed that the matter was decided for them.</p><p>Solas waited at the door, holding it open for them as Vher’rel guided her new companion into their home.  In that moment, it became inherently clear who actually owned the place.  </p><p>Savh’vuni joined Solas at the threshold as they watched the two cats make their way to Vher’rel’s special cushion by the back window.  Voided black against orange and white, they curled around each other and settled in.  </p><p>Solas approached them, kneeling down and pulling Vher’rel’s blanket—the one she usually used to knead the most exquisite fake bread dough—over the both of them.  Vher’rel chirped and rubbed her face against his palm and Savh’vuni could picture the exact turn of his lips without even needing to see it.  He pointed a scolding finger at the spirit, his tone severe.</p><p>“If you so much as even swat at her, you will be out of the house before it can land and there will be no debate about it.  Do I make myself clear, Bana’din?”  </p><p>“Oh, we’re naming it now?” she asked, teasing.</p><p>“We are naming it now.” He stood, straightening out the hem of his nightshirt, deliberately unphased—refusing to give her the satisfaction.  She laughed.</p><p>“You have a problem.”</p><p>“That is becoming increasingly apparent, yes.”</p><p>They started up the stairs, Solas’ fingers lacing with her own on the second step.  </p><p>“It creeps me out,” Savh’vuni whispered in confession when they were safely in their own room.  He pulled her to him, framing her body with his own from behind.</p><p>“Let us not think too much about it.” He bit at her earlobe, murmuring into the skin just behind it.  “At least, for tonight.”</p><p>Solas proceeded to be incredibly thorough in ensuring that her mind was as blank as physically possible for the remainder of the night—nips and sighs and praises that were lost amongst the new dawn light.  </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Vher'rel - Rebel Cat<br/>Bana'din - Black Death<br/>Garas - Come (here)</p><p> </p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Right There Where You Left It</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>As good a place as any to start.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>It was unlivable, decrepit.  Uninhabitable, without a doubt, but Savh’vuni had never seen Solas so happy.  </p><p>They lived out of a tent the first few months as they both brought the cottage into a more manageable state of disarray.  It was slow, taxing work, both of them silently agreeing to do it all manually;  No magic, just their palms worn and blistering from the consistent overuse of a hammer, some nails, and a wood knife.  It was all in an attempt to make use of their hands and their bodies and their time.  From the ground up they started to build their home together.  </p><p>Unfortunately, neither of them were capable carpenters of any measure.  </p><p>“I was under the impression that you had some great skill when it came to building.”  Solas was bracing the weight of the scaffolding in the kitchen on his shoulders, breathing deeply and evenly as sweat poured down his face and neck, into the loose collar of his shirt. </p><p>“Solas,” she said, exasperated as she started and failed to fix a nail to the lap joint. “I can reverse engineer any piece of arcana you bring to me, but if you bring me a piece of wood or a rock, well I’m sorry, but it will still be a piece of wood and a stupid.” She swung her hammer down onto the nail. “Useless.” <em> Wham</em>. “Rock at the end of it.”</p><p>They continued on in silence, their irritation palpable.  The only sound that passed between them were the measured, labored breaths Solas took, eyes fixated across the room and out the broken window.  Savh’vuni continued her hammering, working as quickly as she could while still ensuring that she wasn’t going to be compromising the integrity of their ceiling.  </p><p>“Moment of truth,” she told him.  Solas nodded, slowly lowering himself at the knee, allowing the weight of the wood to leave his shoulders bit by bit until he quickly stepped away from underneath it.  The house groaned for a moment and they both held a bated breath as they waited for it to settle.  </p><p>It held.  More impressively, it was even and leveled.  </p><p>They looked at each other, equally shocked, before Savh’vuni gave out a loud whoop, holding her arms wide.  Solas mimicked her, and she all but jumped into his arms from her perch on the ladder against the wall.  He took her weight easily, holding her high as they laughed together, basking in their mutually tiring and sweaty accomplishment.</p><p>“Lunch?” she asked into his shoulder, letting her eyes fall closed and enjoying the solid feel of him against her.  </p><p>“Later, perhaps.  I fear I am in need of something else at present.”</p><p>“Oh, I’m sure you are,” she teased, a knowing lilt in her tone as she hooked her legs around his hips.  Her ankles locked at the small of his back.  </p><p>He kissed her chin, eyes lidded as he pulled back to gaze up at her.  “Yes, some water.  I am rather parched.” </p><p>She bit at the meaty junction between his neck and collarbone in retaliation.  He laughed, holding her tight enough to hurt.</p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Savh’vuni looked up from where she was tying the wire fencing for the soon-to-be chicken coop.  Solas was making his way down the overgrown path, dust kicking up lazily in his wake.  She went to meet him at the gate, but the latch holding it closed pulled loose of the rotting wood with the barest touch of her hand and swung out hard against her knee.  She rubbed the pain away, more frustrated by yet another repair being added to her mental list rather than the tingling pain radiating out of her kneecap.</p><p>“I thought you were seeing about a goat?” she asked when he was finally within earshot, bringing her hand up to her brow to try and block the sun from her eyes.</p><p>“Yes,” he said with a nod, holding a bundle in his left arm a little closer to his body.  He dithered a moment, neither offering clarification nor an excuse to the lack of goat that they had both agreed would be a beneficial addition to their new lives.</p><p>He cleared his throat, bringing whatever it was he was unnaturally protective of out for her to see.  “Their farm cat had a litter.”  He pulled back a moth-eaten blanket, a small patch of orange fur peeking out from between the cloth.  “She was the last of the lot.  The runt, I believe and I…” </p><p>“You couldn’t leave her there?” She smiled at him, one side pulling up higher than the other.  </p><p>He nodded.  “Precisely so.”</p><p>“Did you at least get the goat?” Savh’vuni asked, lightly scratching at the small patch of fur she could reach.  The kitten didn’t move.</p><p>“Yes, it will be brought when it is weaned.” </p><p>She hummed, stepping to the side and holding the gate open for him before following him into the house.  Solas went straight to the kitchen, placing a large bowl under the pump before working it up and down with one hand.  He refused to relinquish the cat.  Savh’vuni watched him, leaning against the knotted wood of their kitchen counter.  He brought a hand to the basin, warming it with a thought and began the careful work of bathing the scrawniest kitten she had ever seen.</p><p>“She is awfully small,” she said.  </p><p>“She is.” His voice was even, fully focused on his task as he cupped a shallow handful of water and ran it over the kitten’s dust caked face.  They fell silent, just the sound of water dropping into water and the birds in the trees outside.  </p><p>“She’ll need a name.”</p><p>Finally, Solas looked up at her, surprised by her easy acceptance.  He looked back at the cat, the faintest of smiles on his lush lips.</p><p>“Yes.  I will think on it.  First, she must live out the night.”</p><p>Days turned into weeks, linking together into months of Solas dedicating himself to rearing this runt of a kitten into a gorgeously fat cat by hand.  She was sweet and even tempered, would lay in the sun by the door for hours, or walk across the fence to follow Solas about the garden as he attended to the chickens they had managed to buy in town after haggling for a solid twenty minutes with the crankiest old dwarf Savh’vuni had ever met.  </p><p>She heard him say it one morning as the two played with a bit of thread that had come loose from his shirt sleeve.  <em> Vher’rel</em>, his little rebel cat, who had survived and thrived and learned to love unconditionally in that special way that only an animal can.</p><p>The cottage grew warmer as the world shifted into summer.  </p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Vher’rel killed a bird and Solas cried when she brought it to him as a trophy.  It was a tiny little thing, probably abandoned in a nest for its lack of growth and Solas cried like a babe as he buried it out in the garden.  Savh’vuni had never seen him so openly emotional, vulnerable.  Not even when they had stood on opposite ends of a war he, himself, had raged.  Not even when she had held him as close as he would allow and watched as he took all of his grand schemes and smashed them to bits at his own feet.</p><p>“She didn’t know better, it was her way of taking care of you,” Savh’vuni tried to sooth, coming round and holding him from behind.  She laid her head between his trembling shoulder blades.</p><p>“Yes,” he said. “I know and I do not fault her for it.”</p><p>“Then what’s all this for?” She gently turned him and took his face into her hands.  She ran her mismatched thumbs across his wet cheeks.</p><p>“It is <em> because </em> it is not her fault that I am touched so deeply.   It is her nature, and she cannot change that, nor would I wish her to, but neither could the bird.  It was snuffed out before it even had the chance to become what it was meant to be.  The accountability falls to none but the ways of the world.”</p><p>Later that evening, Savh’vuni watched him hold Vher’rel on his lap as he sat in his chair by the fire.  He spoke to her quietly, as if she could understand all of his wooden words and pain and hope.  She butted her head against his palm, as if to make amends.  </p><p>Vher’rel never brought home any of her kills from then on.  Instead, she would pick smooth stones from the creek out by the glen, bringing them back between her sharp white teeth before dropping them at Solas’ feet.  </p><p>He would cry then too before scooping her up and putting their foreheads together.  He whispered a quiet thanks that was lost to all but the two of them.  The stones found a home in a handmade bowl on their bedside table.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Savh’vuni stared down at the ceramic bowl left to rest in the window.  “It’s not rising.”</p><p>“That is because you are impatient.”  Solas’ voice carried in from the next room.  The sound of a page being turned soon followed.  Then another.</p><p>“It should be rising, right?” She asked back, eyes never leaving the bowl.  Her right hand was aching.  It had been a long time since she had overworked it like this.  “It’s been an hour!”</p><p>“It has been no more than ten minutes, <em> vhen’an</em>.  Come and sit down.”</p><p>She acquiesced, moping as she made her way to where he was sitting in his chair near the fireplace before flopping down on the floor besides his feet.  </p><p>“I know I did something wrong.”  She turned to him with an accusatory look. “This is why I shouldn’t try to do things one-handed.”</p><p>He did not waver in his focus on the words before him.  “You cannot wear the arm all the time, it dampens your connection to the Fade.”</p><p>“Only for a little bit.”  The urge to cross her arms over her chest was hard to resist. Unfortunately, the gesture was not as effective with only one limb fully available.</p><p>“Any at all is not worth your effort, my heart.”</p><p>She humphed, leaning her forehead against the side of his knee.  Solas went back to reading his book, gently placing his hand on the crown of her head and working his long fingers through her hair.  It lulled her the same way it always did when he indulged her fickleness in this way, and she could feel herself begin to unwind—her tension and anxiety over the possibility of making the world's saddest loaf nearly forgotten until that thought alone brought it back to the forefront of her mind.  She sat up, the strands of her hair falling through Solas’ fingers as she stared into the kitchen.  </p><p>He shook his head, closing his book with a dull snap, and sat more forward in his seat.  “Savh’vuni,” he warned. </p><p>“I should check on it.” She went to stand, but Solas was quicker—a subduing hand already on her left shoulder, his palm sliding down her skin until it rested against the amputated stump of her left arm.  She shivered. </p><p>“Patience.”  His voice was like water and the fire that always burned within her cooled at its touch.</p><p>Savh’vuni settled back down, kneeling between his thighs as she stared up at him.  He stared back, tracing all of her features and lingering on the soft swell of her lips.  She smiled, the gap in her teeth fully visible as her eyes crinkled.  His thumb brushed over her bottom lip and her tongue flicked out to taste it.  He softened, sitting back more comfortably and spreading his legs wider around her.  She placed her hand against his inner thigh, splaying her fingers wide and biting at her lip as she looked between him and his groin where a bulge was becoming increasingly apparent.  </p><p>She brought herself closer, hovering over it.  “Well, at least there is one thing I know I can get a rise out of.”</p><p>“Ah,” Solas deadpanned. “And there goes the moment.” He stood, pulling her up with him.  He laid a kiss on her temple, holding her in the circle of his arms as she tried to wiggle free, indignant. </p><p>“No fair, I was only teasing!” she whined.  </p><p>“As am I,” he said, lacing his fingers together at the small of her back.  He backed her towards the stairs. “I believe I may have a way to keep you occupied as we wait to see if your efforts have borne any fruit, or bread I suppose, in this instance.”  </p><p>“We can only hope.”  She finally broke free of his hold and all but sprinted up the steps, taking them two at a time and breathing a little heavier at the top.  “Vher’rel will be disappointed in me if I don’t succeed.  She’s been teaching me all of her best kneading techniques.”  </p><p>“I have no doubt you will live up to all of her expectations.”  He stayed at the bottom of the stair, looking up at where she was framed by the sunlight coming in through their bedroom door.  They stayed quiet a moment, lost in the smell of yeast, flour, and the prospect of all that was available to them now. </p><p>“<em>Ar</em> <em>lath</em> <em>ma</em>, Savh’vuni,” he said, and she knew he meant it as a promise.  The light tilted, hidden by a cloud passing leisurely through the evening sky.  The Veil was thinning and the world was spinning anew.  He walked up the stairs and took her into his arms as he kicked the bedroom door closed behind them.</p><p>The bread turned out delicious, if a little burnt.  Savh’vuni and Solas shared the loaf over a bottle of sweet wine and a smear of soft cheese made from their goat’s milk later that night.  Vher’rel yawned, turning onto her back and leaving her stomach available to the warmth of the fire or any wandering fingers willing to give her a scratch.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Fun Fact:  One of the only times I've seen my father cry was when our cat killed a bird.  Sometimes, inspiration isn't too hard to find.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Comments and critiques are desperately needed.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>